


traveling with my heart

by gardevoirite



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Humor, Happy Ending, M/M, Nightmares, POV Shiro (Voltron), Wingman Kosmo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-08-04 15:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16349288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gardevoirite/pseuds/gardevoirite
Summary: “Well, yeah, who wouldn’t like you?” Keith mutters, as if it wasn’t meant for Shiro to hear. It seems it really wasn’t, from the way Keith’s face suddenly heats up. “I mean – never mind. Hey,” he rests his hand on the wolf’s head, “just let go of the arm.”And instead of him simply letting the arm fall from his mouth and onto the bed, the wolf gets off the bed entirely and shoves the arm into Keith’s hands instead. Then he’s gone.“How is it? Not broken from being his chew toy, I hope?” Shiro jokes.“It’s covered in dog spit.”Or, Kosmo thinks fetch is about bringing Keith what he loves. He ends up bringing him to Shiro.





	traveling with my heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [imagines](https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagines/gifts).



> im a month n a half late bc it be like that when u have me as a friend buuUUUt HAPPY VERY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO [MEI](https://belovedsheith.tumblr.com) WHO I LOVE W MY WHOLE GIANT HEART SORRY THIS IS SO LATE JDNDJKNDN
> 
> among the things in ur wishlist is, i quote, “kosmo being around”, “kosmo making shit awkward” and “you can throw in angst” so this is what u get

* * *

He doesn’t realize his prosthetic was taken from him until he hears the wolf teleporting away.

He wasn’t even interacting with the wolf in any way – he decided to accompany Keith outside the hospital after a month of being bedridden, and the wolf wanted to tag along. For a solid ten minutes they were playing fetch with his knife while Shiro went through documents on his tablet before the wolf took his prosthetic by the fingers and teleported away with it.

He watched the duo at the corner of his eye. They’re on the other side of the field, wolf nudging the prosthetic into Keith’s hands, tail wagging. Keith is sputtering, unsure what to do with the metal hand suddenly in his hands. “Hey - This is not what I asked you to fetch! We’re bringing this back to Shiro and apologizing!”

“I don’t mind!” He ends up shouting, and Keith snaps his head up so quickly that Shiro’s a bit worried for his neck. He waves at the duo with his left hand and wills his prosthetic to scratch space wolf’s ears. His tail is wagging violently, thumping against the ground. Keith is beet red.

Seems the wolf does listen to Keith when he asks him to teleport them, at least, because in the next second Keith is in front of him, stuttering out an apology.

“I’m so sorry Shiro, I don’t know what came over him - ”

“Keith. It’s fine.” Now that the wolf is within reach, he can pet him with both hands. He paws at his chest, and he happily indulges the wolf with some pats. “Maybe he’s trying to tell me something. Take a break for once.”

“Oh, so if I tell you to take a break you say no, but a space wolf takes your prosthetic and suddenly it’s a great idea.”

“Exactly,” Shiro teases.

He’s rewarded with a cute little pout. He wishes he could take Keith’s face between his hands and kiss it away. He digs his fingers into the wolf’s fur instead.

“Well,” Keith sighs. “If it’ll get you away from those papers, fine. But,” he glares at space wolf as he gets off of Shiro and faces him, head tilted and tongue lolling from the side, “No more prosthetic stealing without permission.”

The wolf barks, takes Shiro’s tablet, and disappears.

“Well,” Shiro says, after a long minute, “it wasn’t my prosthetic.”

Keith closes his eyes, pinches the bridge of his nose, takes a deep breath, and slowly lets it out. He opens his eyes to glance at Shiro. “Sorry.”

  
“You don’t have to apologize. It’s funny.”

“Funny,” Keith repeats, as if the word was Altean and he’s trying to pronounce it for the first time. With a shake of his head, he extends his hand out. “Well. Guess we have to go wolf hunting. Shall we go, Captain?”

Shiro’s traitorous heart skips a beat once he takes Keith’s hand. Even through the glove, it’s warm. “Lead the way, sir.”

* * *

 

That should have been the end of it. Really, neither of them knew what they were in for.

Maybe Shiro should have been a bit more stern the first time the wolf took his arm. If he had just given one less pat, maybe this wouldn’t be happening.

When he wakes and he feels the slobber on his arm, yet no arm is to be seen anywhere, he already knows.

Before he can call Keith about the situation, his door is already opening. Keith stands at the entrance, a very proud looking space wolf by his side. In between his teeth is, predictably, Shiro’s arm.

“I need a hand over here,” Shiro says before he can stop himself. Keith turns to the opposite direction, already a foot out the entrance. “No, wait, come back!”

In the blink of an eye, the wolf teleports both of them into Shiro’s room and by his bedside.

Well, the wolf is by his bedside.

Keith ends up beside him, in bed.

And – that shouldn’t make his heart start beating twice as fast as it was. But the thought of Keith sharing a bed with him, waking up beside him, wearing his pajamas like he was meant to be there –

He doesn’t get to enjoy the fantasy, because Keith realizes the predicament faster than Shiro does and is out of his bed in the next second.

Shiro tries to mend his heart as discreetly as possible. It was nice while it lasted.

“I’m so sorry,” Keith begins, because of course he does, “I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”

“Maybe he just likes me more than he used to now,” Shiro reasons. The wolf props his front legs up on the bed, asking for pats. He’s too weak not to give them to him.

  
“Well, yeah, who wouldn’t like you?” Keith mutters, as if it wasn’t meant for Shiro to hear. It seems it really wasn’t, from the way Keith’s face suddenly heats up. “I mean – never mind. Hey,” he rests his hand on the wolf’s head, “just let go of the arm.”

And instead of him simply letting the arm fall from his mouth and onto the bed, the wolf gets off the bed entirely and shoves the arm into Keith’s hands instead. Then he’s gone.

“How is it? Not broken from being his chew toy, I hope?” Shiro jokes.

“It’s covered in dog spit.”

Shiro snorts. “Just how I like it.” He wills the arm out of Keith’s hold and back to his side, using the blanket to wipe off the slobber. “Since you’re already here, wanna go get breakfast together? They’re opening some kind of alien farmer’s market for the Coalition.”

“I – sure, okay. But I’m paying,” Keith insists as Shiro stands up and stretches.

(He notices Keith’s eyes drifting down when his stretching causes his tank top to ride up. He desperately tries not to get his hopes up.)

“You don’t have to.”

“Least I can do for all the crimes my wolf committed against you.” He takes a couple steps back, smiling at Shiro softly. “I’ll give you some time to get ready.”

“Meet you in the garage in ten?”

“You got it, Captain.”

* * *

 

The third time, he’s expecting it. He just doesn’t expect it to happen so late at night.

On nights when he can’t sleep (which is… more nights than he would prefer), he ends up working. It’s a bad habit he’s trying to break, considering the consequences he gets the next morning, but it’s something that keeps his thoughts distracted.

He’s in the middle of typing up some documents for the Coalition when he hears the familiar sound of the wolf’s teleportation. He’s already clutching at his prosthetic when he turns to greet the wolf, but as soon as he lands his eyes on him, he knows something is wrong.

The wolf whimpers, standing on his hind legs to paw at Shiro’s lap. His tail is tucked between his legs.

“Shh, hey buddy,” Shiro soothes, scratching at his ears. “What’s wrong?”  
Instead of taking just his prosthetic, the wolf hangs on to Shiro and zips away with him in tow.

He lands unsteadily on his feet. The room they’re in now is dark, but he immediately knows where is he is as soon as he hears the voice.

“Shiro…”

Shiro turns towards the voice, to Keith. He is still asleep, but he’s thrashing underneath the covers. Shiro rushes to him with the wolf in tow.

“Keith,” he whispers, sits by his bedside. “Keith, I’m here, I’m here-”

“I’m sorry,” Keith mumbles in his sleep, his eyes shut tightly as if in pain. Shiro’s heart tears at the seams. “Don’t leave me, please-”

“I’d never,” Shiro says, but Keith needs to hear it himself. As soon as Shiro’s hands rest on his shoulders, Keith’s eyes snap open. He bolts up, clutching at Shiro’s hands in an instant.

“Shiro,” Keith whimpers. Even in the dark, Shiro can see the tears threatening to spill over his eyes.

He doesn’t hesitate. He gathers Keith in his arms, and Keith falls into them, pressing his face into the crook of his shoulder. His hands clutch tightly at Shiro’s back. Shiro keeps him as close as possible, his flesh arm wound tightly around him and his prosthetic running through his hair in what he hopes is a comforting gesture.

“I’m here,” he promises. “I’ll always be here. I wouldn’t dream of leaving you, Keith. You’ll always have me, I swear.”

Keith whimpers his name again, moving closer until he’s practically in Shiro’s lap. Shiro lets him in easily. He wouldn’t dream of putting any more space between them now. Keith sniffs. “I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for.”

“Space wolf probably woke you up, I shouldn’t interrupt your rest-”

“I was awake when he came by. Even if I wasn’t, I would’ve gone anyway.”

Keith sighs shakily. “They’re just nightmares. I-I have them often enough. I can handle them myself.”

“I know you can. But you don’t have to. I don’t… want you to feel like you’re all alone, Keith.”

I love you, he wishes to say. I can’t bear to see you in pain. I hate seeing you in pain because of me. I’ll always be here for you. I love you. I love you.

Keith doesn’t reply. Shiro feels his eyelashes flutter against his skin, leaving tears in its wake. He barely registers the wolf hopping onto the bed and curling up beside Keith protectively, giving Shiro a lick on his knee as he settles down.

He’s not sure how long they stay like that, wrapped in each others arms, basking in the knowledge that they’re here, together. But eventually, Keith lifts his head up from Shiro’s shoulder to look at him. The area around his eyes is tearstained, but he’s smiling weakly at him, and Shiro can’t help smiling back.

“Thanks, Shiro.”

“No need to thank me,” he says. “I know you’d do the same for me.”

Keith actually laughs at that, sheepish, and Shiro gladly takes it as a victory. “Well. Yeah. I would. In a heartbeat.”

“I know.” He does, because Keith has done it before, way back during the first few weeks of Voltron and the memories of the arena were blurry, but devastating. A single strangled yell would have Keith bursting into his room and waking him up, calming him down from panic attacks and staying with him until his heartbeat returned to normal. “So let me return the favor.”

“Stay with me,” Keith blurts. “Please. I don’t know if I can be alone right now.”

He would stay by Keith’s side for the rest of his life, if he would only ask. “Of course.”

Shiro maneuvers them into lying side by side, face to face. The wolf pops in between them, takes Shiro’s flesh hand, drags it over to Keith’s, and teleports to the foot of the bed.

And – suddenly he’s all too aware of the situation he’s in. He’s lying beside Keith like they’ve done this thousands of times before, with barely any space between them.

And Keith… laces their fingers together. As if they’ve done that thousands of time before, too. Shiro squeezes his hand in what he hopes is a reassuring gesture; Keith runs his thumb over Shiro’s knuckles and squeezes back.

Shiro doesn’t know if he can recover from this night, much less fall asleep now, but Keith’s eyes are starting to droop. He might as well try to get a couple hours of sleep, now that he’s got good company.

“G’night, Shiro,” Keith manages to say before he’s out like a light. Their entwined hands are still in between them. Shiro doesn’t dare pull away,

He scoots closer until Keith can comfortably slot his head on Shiro’s chest. And- this is good, he thinks. Even if Keith said he only loves him like a brother, if this is what he’s willing to give Shiro, he’s gladly take it all.

He’s got to thank the wolf properly tomorrow. Go out and get him the biggest bag of treats he can find. Give him all the belly rubs he wants.

“Good night, Keith,” he whispers, letting his eyes droop closed.

It’s the best sleep both of them have had in years.

* * *

It’s a rare off day for the both of them, where Shiro’s all done with meetings and Keith is giving his paladins some time to spend with their families.

Shiro, of course, wants to spend the day with Keith. He tells Keith so and watches giddily as the redness of Keith’s cheeks spreads all the way to his ears.

“What were you planning on doing today?”

“Was just gonna hang out with space wolf.” The corners of Keith’s lips tug down. “Maybe he’ll understand how fetch works this time.”

He laughs. “Well, maybe I can help.”

Keith snorts. “It’s a daunting task. I hope you’re ready for it, Captain.”

“I was born ready, sir.”

They end up in an open field near the Garrison, far enough for some privacy but close enough that they can return if they’re needed. Keith directs Shiro to stand around ten feet away from him, so that they can pass Keith’s blade back and forth and let the wolf run from one of them to the other (assuming he understands the game this time around, which, if Shiro’s being honest, is not likely).

“C’mon, boy. You see this?” Keith waves the knife above the wolf’s head, and he obediently follows the knife with his eyes. “Go on, fetch!”

He throws the knife, and it lands right at Shiro’s feet. He’s pretty sure the wolf will do what he always does – stare at Keith, head tilted, tail wagging slowly. At least it’s cute.

So he’s surprised when the wolf books it towards him.

He probably should be more surprised that he takes Shiro’s prosthetic instead of the knife, but, well.

The wolf doesn’t even stop to let Shiro pet him – he’s by Keith’s side in a flash, once again pushing the metal arm in Keith’s hands.

Keith doesn’t bother apologizing to Shiro at this point. He can see him sigh heavily before taking the arm and grudgingly giving the wolf a pat.

“Maybe he’ll listen to me instead,” Shiro teases, before picking up the knife and whistling to get the wolf’s attention. “I’ve been told I’m quite the dog treat connoisseur.”

Keith rolls his eyes at him, and he laughs as the wolf bounds towards him. He swings the knife back and forth, watching how the wolf follows its movements with his eyes, and tosses it to Keith’s feet.

For a long moment, the wolf doesn’t move.

Then, he snatches the prosthetic away from Shiro’s side and teleports back to Keith.

“Jeez, what is going on with him?” Keith demands. Still, he takes the arm and gives the wolf a chin scratch. “Is there some kind of a metal in the arm that he likes, or something? Maybe he can sense the quintessence in it? But then why would he give it to me…?”

“Maybe he thinks you like having a part of me with you,” Shiro jokes.

Keith’s face turns red. Beside him, the wolf barks happily, then nudges the arm even closer to Keith’s chest.

Oh.

“Is… is that what he thinks?” Shiro asks, voice weak.

Another bark, a flash, and a giant space wolf appears in front of him. In the blink of an eye he’s teleported Shiro right in front of Keith, only a couple inches away from his face.

“Oh,” Shiro says, dumbly.

“Oh.” Keith’s voice is quiet, eyes darting everywhere except Shiro’s face.

And – fuck it. He’s gone through too much to lose his chance now. He’s survived too much, too many times, and he’ll never know when he’ll get unlucky and leave this realm for good.

If he doesn’t go after his happiness now, he might never get the chance again. So he takes the leap.

“Keith.”

“Y-Yeah?”

“You know you already do have a part of me with you, right?”

Keith’s eyebrows furrow, and the corners of his lips twitch downward. “What? I do?”

“Mhm.” And, before he loses his nerve, “My heart.”

There’s a long moment, which probably only lasts a few seconds but feels like hours, where Keith just stares at him, dumbfounded.

Then before Shiro can start overthinking every decision he’s ever made, Keith snorts, takes Shiro’s face between his hands, and tugs him down to his lips.

He doesn’t hesitate. Curls his fingers around the back of Keith’s neck, just like he always wanted to, and pulls him even closer as he kisses back. He can taste the smile on Keith’s lips, the little sigh he lets out when Shiro presses his lips a little deeper. Maybe Keith can hear his heart pounding out of his chest, can feel the heat from his cheeks under his palms.

Keith pulls away too soon, but keeps their foreheads pressed together. Shiro gets cross-eyed trying to stare into his eyes. They’ve always been a little mesmerizing.

“Can’t believe my space wolf ended up matchmaking us,” Keith says, and Shiro laughs. The wolf is suddenly pawing at Keith’s legs, as if understanding that he’s being talked about.

“He’s a good boy,” Shiro tells him, very seriously, as Keith crouches down to let the wolf lick him. “We should get him some treats. And actual proper toys so he can learn how to play fetch.”

“You asking me out on a date?”

A date. God. Shiro feels giddy. “Think I’d rather take you out on a proper dinner than go pet supply shopping.”

“Two dates, then.” Keith smirks at him, all sharp and extremely dangerous for Shiro’s heart.

“Okay, two dates. But I’ll start with that dinner. Tonight? I’ll pick you up from your quarters at six?”  
Keith’s smile softens. It is just as bad, if not worse for Shiro’s poor heart. “Yeah, sounds perfect.”

He’s getting that wolf the best damn bag of treats in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is softlysheith hmu


End file.
